Clayton Tune latest Cardinals 2023 draft pick with family ties to franchise
Apr 29, 2023, 5:30 PM
Chicago Cardinals RB Jim Lawrence (Twitter Photo/@AZCardinals)
(Twitter Photo/@AZCardinals)
TEMPE — Paris Johnson isn’t the only 2023 Arizona Cardinals draft pick with prior family connections to the franchise.
You can now add fifth-round draft pick and quarterback Clayton Tune to that exclusive club.
Eighty-six years ago, Tune’s great-great uncle Jim Lawrence made franchise history as the first-ever draft pick for the then-Chicago Cardinals in the inaugural NFL Draft in 1936. The running back from TCU was taken with the fifth overall pick.
Lawrence spent four seasons with the Cardinals (30 games played), recording 357 yards and four touchdowns on 126 carries. He caught 27 balls for 253 yards.
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Lawrence also spent three games with the Green Bay Packers in 1939 following his stint with Chicago.
It’s yet another full-circle-type moment for one of the newest Cardinals.
That’s not Tune’s only tie to the team, either, having worked with Cardinals quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork at the Senior Bowl.
Tune knows a thing or two about quarterback Kyler Murray, having grown up 20 miles down the road from Allen, Texas, where the starter is from.
He also ran into Colt McCoy about two months ago at a conference and had a chance meeting with backup signal-calling option David Blough years prior.
“I actually met David (Blough) probably six years ago. He won’t remember this, but he was throwing in the offseason at my high school when he was still at Purdue,” Tune said via teleconference after getting drafted. “He was throwing at my high school.
“I went up and introduced myself to him and I was like ‘I’m a sophomore or junior here at Hebron (high school)’ and told him I was looking up to him. We threw for a little bit but that was so long ago, I doubt he remembers that.”
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